News Desert America: Trump Voters Cut Their Own Lifeline

August 2, 2025

By Brian Hews

So, MAGA voters—how’s that loyal GOPism working out for you now that Donald Trump and his Republican allies have pulled the plug on the Corporation for Public Broadcasting? That’s right, the federal agency that funds NPR and PBS, including the rural stations many of you rely on, is shutting down by September 2025 after Trump’s rescission package slashed over a billion dollars in public media support.

Here’s the kicker: the communities that will be hit the hardest are the same red counties that gave Trump his biggest margins. Small towns, tribal regions, and rural America—places where commercial media doesn’t bother to set up shop—are about to lose their primary source of news, weather alerts, and educational programming. Many of these stations operate on shoestring budgets, and CPB grants make up a third to half of their funding. When that disappears, the stations go dark.

Let’s be clear—this isn’t just about elite podcasts or “lefty news.” PBS Kids and shows like Sesame Street aren’t partisan. They’re lifelines for families without access to private preschools or high-speed internet. In many rural districts, they are the only early learning resources available. With CPB gone, kids in these regions are left with nothing but YouTube ads and glitchy cartoons.

And don’t forget the role public stations play during emergencies. Tornadoes, wildfires, floods—when cell towers go down, public broadcast towers stay up. PBS signals carry emergency alerts, provide updates, and even deliver tele-education and health content through datacasting. But again, these systems depend on CPB infrastructure, and now they’re on the chopping block.

Let’s talk about hypocrisy for a moment. Trump and his allies have railed against public media as elitist, liberal, and unnecessary. But the data shows that rural older Americans—his base—are some of PBS and NPR’s most loyal consumers. They trust it more than commercial news. And now, thanks to their votes and the political circus they supported, they’re losing it. That’s not a liberal hit piece; that’s math.

Meanwhile, urban public media outlets like WNYC or KCRW will probably weather the storm. They have donor bases, endowments, and sponsors. But the stations in West Texas, northern Michigan, or remote Alaska? They don’t. They’re about to go dark, and no one’s coming to save them.

This isn’t just a media story—it’s a story about how Trump voters were sold a bill of goods and are now paying the price in silence. No more local journalism. No more trusted educational TV. No more daily updates from the only reporters who ever showed up in their communities. Instead, they’re left with disinformation farms and Facebook comment threads.

Public broadcasting has long been the connective tissue in America’s media landscape—bridging urban and rural, rich and poor, left and right. With CPB gone, that bridge collapses. And tragically, the people who voted for its demolition are the ones now stranded on the far side.

Contact Brian Hews at [email protected] or follow @cerritosnews.bsky.social.